Tag: Radiation Oncology

Lung Chip Mimics Radiation Injury

Researchers at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University have developed a microfluidic chip that can recreate some of the features of radiation-induced lung injury. The lungs are very sensitive to radiation, and this can limit the application of radiotherapy to treat cancer. Accurately modeling radiation-induced lung injury could assist in developin (Read more...)

MRI-Guided Magnetic Seeds Heat and Destroy Tumors

Scientists at University College London have developed a highly targeted anti-tumor treatment. The approach involves guiding ferromagnetic thermoseeds to the site of a tumor using the magnetic fields generated by an MRI scanner. The magnetic seeds can then destroy the tumor through localized heating that is induced by an MR-compatible thermoablativ (Read more...)

3D Printed Shields Protect Guts During Radiotherapy

Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and MIT have developed 3D printed shields to protect the gastrointestinal tract from the side effects of radiotherapy. Using CT scans, the devices can be custom printed to suit each patient’s anatomy. The materials they’re made of contain high atomic number elements that help to shield t (Read more...)

Radiotherapy to Prevent Recurrence Post Brain Tumor Excision: Interview with Matthew Likens, President and CEO of GT Medical

GT Medical Technologies, a company based in Arizona, has developed the FDA-approved GammaTile system, which can provide localized radiation therapy for brain tumor excision sites. Its goal is to reduce tumor recurrence and enhance patient survival. The treatment consists of radiation seeds encased in a collagen substrate. These are easy to place at (Read more...)

Synthetic Melanin Protects from Radiation Damage

Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a new biomaterial, selenomelanin, that can help protect people from radiation. The new substance, chemically synthesized and produced by bacteria, helps protect cells from radiation more effectively than other forms of melanin. One day, it may be used in sunscreens, medical treatments, or for lo (Read more...)

Noona Cloud Tool for Cancer Patients: Interview with Jani Ahonala, VP, Global Patient Outcomes, Varian Medical

Varian Medical Systems, based in Palo Alto, California, has announced that its Noona mobile service now has some new features, some of which are a direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Noona is a cloud-based system that allows cancer patients to connect with their clinicians and clinics. Patients can record their symptoms and proactively manage (Read more...)

FDA Clears Two New Radiotherapy Planning CTs from Siemens

Procedure planning is an important part of radiation therapy in order to achieve optimal tumor reduction without damaging too much healthy tissue. Two newly FDA-cleared radiation therapy planning CT scanners from Siemens Healthineers are coming to America. The SOMATOM go.Sim and SOMATOM go.Open Pro are part of the company’s SOMATOM.go platfor (Read more...)

Method Makes PET Tracers out of Common Biomolecules

Researchers from the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed new radioactive tracers to track pharmaceuticals in the body and to image cancer. The findings, reported in journal Science, describe the new chemistry they have developed, along with data that demonstrate that the team was able to radioactively (Read more...)

ARIS MD Automatic Tissue Segmentation in Virtual and Augmented Reality: Aris MD at CES 2019

Medical imaging technologies have come a long way over the decades. They offer greater visual detail, but all that data often makes it difficult to see and understand the anatomy being studied. At CES 2019 we met with ARIS MD, a company that was introducing its 3D visualization technology that can automatically identify different organs, […]

(Read more...)

Elekta Unity High-Field MRI/Linac System Cleared in U.S.

Elekta, the Swedish manufacturer of radiotherapy devices, won FDA clearance for the world’s first high-field MRI/linac system. The Elekta Unity combines a 1.5 Tesla MRI scanner with a linear particle accelerator, a feat that was previously thought impossible. This is because the electrons coming out of an accelerator, being electrons, have a (Read more...)